Paradise Lost
by xo-harlequin girl-xo
Summary: Gotham is corrupt, rotten to its core. He is going to bring the city back to its former glory and she is going to help him. If people happen to get in their way, well, there's plenty of space left in the city graveyard.
1. Chapter 1

The Joker sighed as he lay on his desolate bunk, in his desolate cell, in the desolate place that was Arkham Asylum feeing desolated.

Complete and utter desolation.

He pulled himself up into a sitting position and glared at the door.

It was too quiet.

Arkham wasn't supposed to be quiet, especially not the maximum security wing.

_Come on, it's an asylum for fuck sake!_

But, apparently the criminally insane needed their sleep too.

How he hated the silence.

He lived for the nights. The shadows were his dearest friends. They would never betray his secrets.

Silence was the enemy.

Silence and _Bats_...........

A faint note echoed shattered the silence.

The Joker frowned. That had never happened before.

More notes soon echoed through the hallway.

He recognised the noise.

A piano.

_Music._

The notes stopped.

He scrambled off his bunk and over to the door.

_Please don't finish. Not yet. Just a little bit more._

More notes. Scales.

And then…….

Silence.

_Just one song._

The first chords of a song were played. He didn't recognise it, but no matter.

It was music.

The music stopped again and restarted.

Joined by a voice.

"_I dreamed a dream of times gone by_

_When hope was high and life worth living_

_I dreamed that love would never die_

_I dreamed that God would be forgiving_"

The voice trailed off.

It was high.

Feminine.

"_Then I was young and unafraid  
And dreams were made and used and wasted  
There was no ransom to be paid  
No song unsung  
No wine untasted_"

The voice acquired a harsh edge.

"_But the tigers come at night  
With their voices soft as thunder  
As they tear your hope apart  
And they turn your dream to shame_"

The voice trailed off on a high note.

His breath caught in his throat.

"_He slept a summer by my side  
He filled my days with endless wonder  
He took my childhood in his stride  
But he was gone when autumn came_"

He could hear the sadness in her voice.

Her strength returned.

"_And still I dream he'll come to me  
That we'll live the years together  
But there are dreams that cannot be  
And there are storms we cannot weather_"

The music trailed off.

The finale was coming. He could feel it.

The chords returned, powerful. Her voice strong.

"_I had a dream my life would be  
So much different from this hell I'm living  
So different now from what it seemed  
Now life has killed  
The dream………  
I dreamed_."

Voice and music gently trailed back to silence.

It was almost as if he had never heard it.

The Joker shakily pulled in a breath.

No.

He opened his eyes wide and clenched his fists in his greasy green hair.

He paused and slowly drew his hands down from his head staring intently at them.

_What's happening to me?_

He let out his breath, stood and began to pace.

Arkham was not going to get him. He wouldn't let it.

It wasn't going to take away his love, the nights.

He walked to the door and gently placed his palm against it.

_Music_.

The gentle cacophony of screams.

He licked his lips.

He would taste that joy again.

A smile slowly spread across his face.

He started laughing, the sound echoing around his cell.

It wasn't going to break him. He wouldn't let it.

The other inmates began to wake.

His eyes glittered.

He could smell their fear.

His laughter began to change.

The old manic edge creeping in.

He was back.

Gotham wouldn't know what hit it.

* * *

My new story. The idea popped into my head yesterday and it won't leave me alone. Mind you, my current hypernes probably isn't helping. *shrugs* oh well!  
Hope you enjoyed so far. Please do feel free to rate and review! ^.^

Lyrics are from the song 'I dreamed a dream' from Les Miserables. Needless to say, I don't own.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time morning came around Joker was feeling much more like his old self. He even whistled as the orderly of the day brought him to the dining room.

_Only in Arkham would you have unsupervised dining and recreational facilities in the maximum security wing._

After being let out of his cuffs at the door, he strolled over to his usual table. Crane was already sitting there, writing something in his notebook with a crayon. It was all he could do not to start laughing.

Crane didn't look up from what he was writing as Joker sat down, but he didn't interrupt. The doctor got cranky when he interrupted him. Crane looked up, "Nice to have you back Mr. Joker." Joker smirked, "Nice to be back Doc. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" Crane shrugged, "Not much. We'll probably get some news today though." He shot Crane a questioning glance. "New arrival", Crane answered nodding towards the door. Joker turned and looked at the figure being led through the door with interest. As the figure came closer he started to pick out details.

Like the fact it was a woman.

_Pretty girly._

_Brown hair._

_Tallish, 'bout 5' 8"._

_Lightly muscled frame._

_Long fingers._

He smirked.

_Pretty girly music maker._

The girl stopped at their table and sat the down. The two orderlies began to move away. "You know I find it's a lot easier to eat when my wrists _aren't _shackled together." One orderly turned around with a glare and uncuffed her wrists before they stalked away. "Thank you dearies!" she called after them. She turned around and let her head drop to the table. "Good morning Ophelia," Crane said.

Ophelia sat up straight and bean to massage her temples. "I fail to see what's so good about it Dr. Crane. I seem to have a headache the size of Bruce Wayne's ego." Joker sniggered to himself. She took note of her surroundings.

"How on earth did I end up here?" she questioned.

"You mean you can't remember?" Crane asked incredulously.

"Nah, it's a bit fuzzy after the first dart."

"The _first_ dart?!"

"Well, yeah. I'm presuming the fuzziness is due to the fact that there was more the one."

Joker took to observing Ophelia as she and Crane talked.

_Ophelia._

_Though this be madness, yet there is method in't._

He let a grin spread across his face.

Crane frowned. "It's not procedure to use more than one dart."

"Well I don't know," she said sighing, "maybe they upped the dosage or something. Which reminds me, who's this guy?" She gestured vaguely over at Joker.

"Oh sorry, I forgot you haven't met each other before," Crane said perking up considerably. "Ophelia this is the Joker, and Joker this is Ophelia Kaiser."

"Pleased to meet you ", Joker said as he extended his hand over to her. Her eyes flashed up to meet his.

_Like Mercury._

She blinked. "Joker, Joker…..I could have sworn I heard that name somewhere before……" she said shaking his hand.

_A firm grip._

_Definitely long fingers_.

_Perfect for midnight music making_.

Crane looked at her in disbelief. "You mean you haven't heard of _the Joker?!_" The Joker sniggered quietly at his tone. "Should I have?" she questioned confused.

"It depends on how interested you are in the current affairs of Gotham," He said interrupting Crane's tirade before it had even begun, "I'm responsible for the recent, eh, _refurbishment_ of Gotham."

Understanding slowly crept across her face. "Oh, I remember now!" she exclaimed clicking her fingers "Nice job by the way. We needed a new theatre. The acoustics in the old one were _terrible_. Oh, and just in case you wanted to further _help_ the community," she continued with an answering grin, "Wayne Enterprises badly needs refurbishment."

Joker laughed.

_I think we'll get along just fine_.

They were interrupted from further discussion by the arrival of breakfast. After breakfast Joker was left to his own devices in the rec. room as Crane and Ophelia were sent to their respective sessions. He curled up on the window seat and traced patterns on the window pane, still enchanted by mercury eyes.

_It's definitely her._

_Pretty eyes._

_As poisonous as mercury?_

_Must be, she's in high security._

_The only woman._

_Crane knows her, so she must have been here before._

Joker frowned.

_What did you do?.........._

The door of the room slammed open and startled him out of his reverie. He glanced at the clock. He'd been stewing for over an hour.

He grinned.

Ophelia was back.

He jumped off the window seat.

_Question time._

_

* * *

_

So here's chapter number two. Up _way _quicker than usual. I just can't seem to get it out of my head..... I probably should be studying for my German test tomorrow but what can you do! ^_^  
Many thank to **Jommoj** for reviewing. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. ^_^

Name and quote both come from 'Hamlet' by Shakespeare. I know the line wasn't spoken by Ophelia, but it seemed to suit.......

Reviews and constructive criticism would be most welcome!


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